Beira Baixa

The area east of Covilhã and the A23 motorway forms the upper boundary of the Beira Baixa, a landscape of undulating, heather-clad hills that extends to the Spanish border. The sun-bleached fields, grazing livestock and extensive olive groves provide a distinct contrast to the serra scenery, with visits concentrating on a series of fortified towns and fascinating villages. With a car you can see the whole region in a couple of days, and the best overnight stops are either at the underrated town of Belmonte or in one of the atmospheric houses of medieval Sortelha. On the other hand, travel by public transport is particularly difficult and slow. Only Belmonte and Sabugal can be reached easily by bus, though if you’re determined you’ll also get to Sortelha, while the provincial capital of Castelo Branco (on the Lisbon–Covilhã train route) has services to Monsanto and Idanha-a-Nova. But isolated destinations, such as Idanha-a-Velha and the Serra da Malcata nature reserve, are impossible to see by public transport.

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Belmonte

The delightful small town of BELMONTE springs one of the best surprises in the Beiras, a charming place of sun-dappled squares, stone houses dripping with window boxes and lazy dogs basking on the cobbles. There are curiosities at every turn, such as the unusual pillory in the shape of an olive press, or the fire-blackened tree stumps outside the castle, which are the site of Christmas Eve carols and gambols. Meanwhile, in the Zêzere river valley, which Belmonte overlooks, vast peach and cherry orchards splash a blaze of colour each spring.

For the Portuguese Belmonte is best known as the birthplace of Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467–1520), the “discoverer” of Brazil, who was born in the tidily restored castelo overlooking town. Cabral’s father received the castle from Dom Afonso V, and adapted it as the family residence, though it later fell into disrepair. The Igreja de Santiago, just outside the castle walls, contains the Cabral family pantheon (though not the tomb of Pedro Álvares, which is in Santarém), while one of two tiny stone chapels on a hillock opposite is inscribed with the Cabral family coat of arms – two goats within a shield. The Cabral trail also extends to the main through-road named in his honour, where there’s a statue of the explorer clutching a large cross.

Sortelha

Twenty kilometres east of Belmonte, SORTELHA rises dramatically amid an unearthly, undulating highland plateau strewn with giant glacial boulders. It’s an ancient place that, for most of its existence, has gone about its business quietly, though the wonderful rock-built fortress suggests some frontier excitement in times past. Today it presents itself as a museum piece – with some beautifully restored lodgings available – since the number of permanent residents in the old town barely struggles into double figures. From the modern quarters on the Sabugal road it’s a five-minute walk uphill (follow “Castelo” signposts) to the fascinating walled old town – or you can drive up and park outside the main gate. A tight web of cobbled lanes wends between squat stone houses with red-tiled roofs, while rough carved steps in the castle keep offer a grandstand view over the valley below and the rock-speckled hillsides beyond.

Monsanto and around

Ancient MONSANTO jealously guards its title of the “most Portuguese” village in the country, an award originally bestowed in 1948. Sited high on a hill above the plain, its houses huddle between giant granite outcrops, their walls moulded around enormous grey boulders – in the case of the Casa de Uma Só Telha (“the house with only one tile”), the entire roof is formed from a single rock. A few houses lie abandoned, but on the whole Monsanto seems to be doing well from Spanish day-trippers and from tourists still searching for the “real” Portugal. Gift shops aside, facilities are limited to a couple of cafés and a small mercearia (grocer’s), but there’s enough to do if you decided to stay the night and it certainly is an experience.

A fine driving circuit east and south of Monsanto leads to some fascinating border outposts, each with a well-marked walking trail. You can do it easily in a day, with time for a walk or two, before returning to Monsanto via Idanha-a-Velha (90km total trip).

Idanha-a-Velha

The isolated village of IDANHA-A-VELHA is 15km south of Monsanto by road, though closer by footpath. It might seem a forgotten backwater now, but it was a large Roman city in the first century BC and was later an important Visigothic settlement – one legend proudly records that the famous Visigothic king Wamba (reigned 672–680 AD) was born here (though at least two places in Spain claim him as well). During the fifteenth century, more local folklore has it that the inhabitants were driven from the village by a plague of rats, after which time the village fell into terminal decline. People do still live in Idana-a-Velha today – grazing sheep on the plains and tending allotments down by the river – but it often seems almost deserted. Indeed, the village looks much as it must have done when the rats moved in, and perhaps not very different from when the Romans left, either.

Around the village

Set amid burned plains and olive groves, the old village is still partly girded by a massive Roman wall. Down by the languid river the Roman bridge is still in use, while roses and vines are trained up the weathered walls of the houses, many built from plundered Roman stone. A stork’s nest tops the ancient basilica – signposted as the Sé – while outside here stand the ruins of the bishop’s palace and an even earlier Roman house. Perhaps the most fascinating restoration is of the old oil press or Lagar de Varas, with an ingenious pressing system utilizing two huge tree trunks, with roots intact. The basilica and the olive-oil-press building should be open during turismo office hours, but if not, just ask.

Castelo Branco and around

As capital of the Beira Baixa, CASTELO BRANCO has an air of prosperity compared to many of the nearby villages. Various frontier wars have robbed the town of much of its age-old history, save the sixteenth-century former town hall, a few handsome mansions, and some castle ruins at the top of town, where a garden miradouro offers sweeping views. Otherwise, it’s a pleasant enough, predominantly modern town of sweeping boulevards, squares and parks, with a broad, leafy central avenue that’s been opened up for pedestrians – there’s also a daily market at the Mercado Municipal, down Av 1° de Maio, near the turismo. That said, you don’t have to head very far out of town for some peace, quiet and natural beauty, with a string of stunning viewpoints and ancient villages within easy reach.

Parks, paths and projects in Beira Baixa

The lower (baixa) Beira region is a surprisingly good place for hiking and outdoor activities; better, in many ways, than the higher Serra da Estrela. It’s the result of a diverse set of interconnecting development projects, the main result of which is a growing series of reliable, waymarked footpaths and readily available information. Castelo Branco sits at the centre of the so-called Naturtejo Geopark (wnaturtejo.com), part of a wider pan-European project, while a large section of Tejo River hinterland is contained within the Parque Natural do Tejo Internacional – “internacional” because it’s mirrored on the Spanish side of the river too. There are good local walk circuits in many towns and villages, particularly between Monsanto, the Spanish border and Idanha-a-Nova, and also around the so-called Aldeias do Xisto (schist villages; waldeiasdoxisto.pt), west of Castelo Branco; we’ve highlighted the best in this Beira Baixa section, and you can pick up route leaflets and information in any local turismo. There’s even a long-distance hiking trail, the GR12-E7 (total 80km), that connects Termas de Monfortinho on the Spanish border with Idanha-a-Nova (some of the shorter walks connect with this; details on the local council website wcm-idanhanova.pt).